Future of McIntyre building remains unclear

PORTSMOUTH — The General Services Administration has completed a draft appraisal of the downtown Thomas J. McIntyre Federal Building.

But city officials in interviews this week acknowledged there is still likely a long way to go before the property is sold and redeveloped, or even to know what the redevelopment will look like.

Mayor Robert Lister said discussions with the GSA are “moving in a methodical way,” but he acknowledged they’re “never moving fast enough.”

GSA officials announced in May 2014 they would vacate the building and the land where it’s located on Daniel Street in the heart of the downtown so it could be “put to productive use.”

But city officials’ hope that the building would be turned over the city at no cost disappeared when the GSA said they must receive “fair market value” for the property under federal law.

Some of the options the city is exploring, Lister said, include entering into a public/private partnership to develop the land or simply trying to control what gets developed there.

The four-story building sits on 2.14 acres of land within view of the city’s waterfront.

There are approximately 107,000 gross square feet of space in the building and 135 parking spaces, including 44 indoors and 92 outside, according to a request for proposals for the appraisal from the GSA.

Lister states there’s still “a lot of unknowns” about how the property will be redeveloped, but he thinks the city will do its own appraisal of the property too.

“As far as a development partnership, certainly we want that property back on the tax rolls,” Lister said. “That’s not been decided on, but it’s one of several possibilities.”

The GSA has determined the current building employees – which Lister estimated at about 40 people – want to have their offices remain in the downtown.

The city has said they want the Post Office that’s located at the site to remain downtown too.

Lister also believes if the property is redeveloped, additional “parking needs to be considered for the site.”

“I’m not talking about a parking garage,” Lister stressed.

City Manager John Bohenko told city councilors that the GSA is currently reviewing the draft appraisal.

“Following determination of the fair market value of the property, GSA procedure is to solicit proposals for redevelopment of the property,” Bohenko stated in a memo to City Council.

“Going forward, future private or public redevelopment of the site is subject to the city’s land-use regulations and policies and the site is returned to the property tax roll,” Bohenko stated.

City Councilor Eric Spear, who serves on a working group of city councilors involved with the issue, acknowledged the pace of GSA’s surrendering the property has been slow.

“I mean it’s the federal government,” Spear said.

But he added the possibility of a public/private partnership of the property “is a good way to describe” what could happen there.

He declined to speculate on whether whoever buys the property will demolish the existing building, calling it a “complex question.”

Tearing down the building would involve dealing with “asbestos and lead abatement,” Spear said, plus developers couldn’t build as high as the federal building stands now because of changes to the city’s zoning ordinance.

After listening to parking experts appearing in the city lately, Spear said he’d rather see the site used for something more valuable than parking.

City Councilor Bradley Lown, another member of the working group, said work with the GSA “is going slowly.”

“We are dealing with a classic large bureaucracy,” Lown said. “We’re doing the best we can by having monthly telephone conferences with GSA and we are expressing some urgency, but they have their own timelines.”

Ideally, Lown said, the property will be developed privately so the city can resume receiving property taxes on it.

But he’d like to see city officials put “some restrictions” on the development.

“We’re hoping that it won’t be an outright sale, subject only to the zoning,” Lown said.

Deputy City Manager David Allen said Tuesday “there are a lot of moving parts,” to the whole process.

GSA must finalize the appraisal, open the property for redevelopment bids and find new offices for people who now work at the Social Security offices in the building, Allen said.

“There’s a lot of flux and I don’t think there’s a lot of clarity,” Allen said.

He stated there’s no existing city facilities that could accommodate the workers, but said part of the redevelopment could include office space.

Asked if the city itself could buy the property, Allen said, “It would take probably some private involvement to assist that.”

The city has been seeking to regain control of that property for a decade.

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